Ikuji Onsen Tanakaya
生地温泉 たなかや
Does Ikuji Onsen Tanakaya allow tattoos? In a private bath
Tanakaya has drawn its salty cold spring at Ikuji since 1911 and pipes it, heated, into the garden baths and into the stone tubs of its Kikuhoan annex rooms. The inn says plainly the water is not an onsen under the law, so this is a mineral bath, not a hot spring.
The inn publishes no tattoo rule on its bath page, FAQ, terms or front page, so nothing is promised for the two shared garden baths, and there is no reservable private bath. The listing rests on the Kikuhoan annex, whose rooms have an indoor stone tub fed with the same water as the shared baths. That water is the inn’s point of pride, a cold mineral spring heated for bathing, and the inn says itself that it does not count as a hot spring under the current law.
The bath
The inn's water is a spring that legend says the warlord Uesugi Kenshin bathed in, and the family has kept it since the inn opened in 1911. The inn is careful about what it is: colorless, salty and odorless, 13.1°C when the prefecture measured it in 2004, classed as mineral-bearing spring water that was once recognized as an onsen but does not meet the current Hot Spring Law, so the inn claims no legal benefits for it. It is heated for the tubs. The men's and women's baths are indoors with windows onto the garden, and each has a baby bed and baby bath. Day visitors are welcome from 1 to 8 p.m., last entry 7 p.m., for ¥800 (children ¥400); towels and bath towels are in every room for guests.
There is no private bath to reserve, as the FAQ says. The bath you can have alone is in the Kikuhoan annex, detached rooms of 10 to 12 mats for two to five guests, each with an indoor stone bath fed with the same spring. The inn adds that it is an indoor bath, not an open-air one, and the main-building rooms have no bathroom at all.
The hotel
A ryokan of 115 years on the Ikuji shore whose rooms all look into a Japanese garden kept by hand for generations, with a wide pond and a 140-year-old tea house at its center and herons that visit from the river. The young master goes out to the fish market himself, and dinner is kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) from that catch, with red snow crab and wild yellowtail plans in season; every meal is served in a private room. Rooms are the main-building Japanese rooms of 8 to 12.5 mats and the Kikuhoan annex with its stone baths; all are non-smoking with Wi-Fi. Check-in is 3 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Not an onsen under the law, by the inn's own statement; the bath is a heated mineral spring.
- Only Kikuhoan rooms have a bath; main-building rooms send you to the shared garden baths.
- Pickup from three stations, booked ahead in the reservation note, by phone or by email.
- Weekend buses from the Shinkansen must be booked an hour ahead, and the fish market stop closes on Wednesdays.
Getting there
From the Hokuriku Shinkansen at Kurobe-Unazuki-Onsen, the inn's car meets guests at the east exit by arrangement, booked in the reservation note, by phone or by email. Or take the Ikuji line bus from the east exit to the Sakana-no-eki fish market (¥200; weekend runs are booked an hour ahead) and change to the inn's car. From Toyama Station the Ainokaze Toyama Railway reaches Ikuji, where the inn also meets trains; it gives no minutes for the rides. Drivers come 15 minutes from the Kurobe interchange; parking is free.
Kurobe-Unazuki-Onsen STN · Hokuriku Shinkansen; or the Ainokaze Toyama Railway to Ikuji
Not walkable.
Free inn car from Kurobe-Unazuki-Onsen (east exit), Ikuji or Dentetsu-Kurobe stations, booked ahead; Ikuji loop bus stops at the inn.
Where it is
Hotel door STN
- Hokuriku Shinkansen 2 hr 8 min from Tokyo
- Ainokaze Toyama Railway 34 min
- hotel shuttle about 5 min
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- Hokuriku Arch Pass ¥35,000 · 7 days Seven days between Tokyo, Kanazawa and Osaka, with reserved seats on the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Toyama, and the Ainokaze Toyama Railway and JR Himi and Johana lines on to the coast and the Shogawa valley.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the rooms page for the Kikuhoan annex tubs; the bath page for what the water is)
Best for: a stone tub of the inn’s salty cold spring, heated, inside a detached room that looks over a pond garden
The Kikuhoan annex rooms, 10 to 12 mats for two to five guests, each have an indoor stone bath fed with the inn’s spring, which the rooms page calls a place to take it slow. The main-building rooms have no bathroom. The bath page says the water does not meet the Hot Spring Law’s definition of an onsen, so the inn cannot claim legal benefits for it; the prefecture classes it as mineral-bearing spring water, colorless, salty and odorless, 13.1°C when surveyed in 2004, and it is heated for the tubs. The FAQ says the inn has no private bath. Day-use bathing 1 to 8 p.m., last entry 7 p.m., ¥800.
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